Welcome to Chapter 3 - as a side note - I apologize for a typo at the end of Chapter 2 which was amended. It was to have read - "Elvis thanked himself for not completely shutting off the phone" - he surely did not want to miss the call from his mate!
Chapter 3
"From the Mouths of Babes"
Georgie awakened to the scent of bacon frying. It smelled wonderful. She turned over onto her back and stretched. She yawned and looked toward the window wondering how much more snow had fallen. She sat up and pushed her hair back. "What a beautiful night we shared." She thought. Having Elvis again and finally having the life with him she had desired the most made her feel so loved. She thought of the call they received last night from Molly and Charlie. That was such wonderful news that Molly was pregnant. You could hear the delight in their voices. She remembered the look on Elvis' face when he heard it. He looked surprised and happy as he looked at her. He knew something of having the joy of a child in one's life. Laura had certainly made an impact in his life. He dearly loved that child and Georgie knew it was difficult for him to be apart from her so much.
Elvis was busy tending to the bacon and preparing the eggs. He wanted to make Georgie a special breakfast since of late they were not able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast together. He had planned this and bought her a white Christmas cactus. Her favorite. He placed it on the kitchen table when he finished the place settings. He hoped she would be waking soon but wanted her to enjoy a sleep in as well. The bacon was now finished, bread was ready to go into the toaster and the eggs were ready when he was.
Georgie got out of bed and padded to the window. "Yeah, more snow. But it's beautiful." The trees surrounding the flat were covered as well as the ground and the morning sunlight made the whiteness shimmer. She went to the bath to ready herself for the day. She looked in the mirror and smiled. "I guess I should give it to him today,"
Elvis wiped his hands with a towel and was just about ready to rouse Georgie when she came walking out of the bedroom. She had a bright smile and said cheerfully, "Good morning!"
Elvis approached her smiling as well, "Good morning beautiful." They shared a quick kiss then Elvis placed his hand at the small of her back and led her into the kitchen. "Oh my. "I could smell the bacon. You've been a busy boy." She said as she looked up at him smiling. Elvis watched her and said, "You deserve it George." "A Christmas cactus!" she squealed. And white! I love it. Thank you!" she said as she reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Elvis beamed. "I'm glad you like it." He pulled Georgie's chair out for her to sit down.
She did a mock curtsy and seated herself as he pushed the chair in. He touched her shoulder then moved to the cooker to start the eggs. He pushed the toast down and poured her tea.
All the while Georgie kept her eyes on him. "I'm glad I married ya." She said good naturedly.
"How so?" Elvis called over his shoulder smiling. ""Well, you cook, you keep the place clean, you know how to iron and you're organized" she quipped. Elvis laughed and returned, "That's 'cause I'm military." Georgie laughed and said, "well so am I, but I don't cook." "Affirmative!" Elvis joked. They both laughed. "I was thinking about Molly and Charlie's call" she said as he handed her a mug of tea. Elvis returned to the cooker and said, "Yeah, so was I. I'm happy for them. Truly. Charlie has been through a tough time since the Afghanistan mission. And I know it's been hard on him not having Molly with him very much what with them touring in different locations and times. Anticipating a baby will be good for him. For both really. I'm tickled for them." Georgie looked at Elvis. He was always good at reading people. Sometimes she thought it was a little unnerving how he could read her. It always struck her how bad ass he could be yet there was a side to him that was deeply emotional and caring. He finished the eggs, knowing she liked hers over easy. He plated her food and presented it to her with a bit of a flourish. She chuckled and said, "Why thank you kind sir." Elvis grinned and plated his portion. After he sat down they said the blessing. Georgie said, "This tastes so good. Maybe if you tire of the SAS you could consider a commission with the Army Catering Corps." Elvis almost choked on his eggs. "Never happen," he said laughing. Georgie laughed as well and they sat there across from each other looking at each other and smiling. Georgie said, "I think we should go to them. Bath is not that far." Elvis looked at her thoughtfully. "Yeah, we can do that. Let's see when a good time would be for them and then plan." Georgie nodded her head smiling and dug into her eggs.
As the meal was finishing, Georgie sat back sipping her tea and said, "Elvis, a package came for you yesterday." He looked surprised and said, "Really? Where from?" Georgie put her mug down and got up. She walked to the closet, bent down and dragged a fairly sized box out. Elvis got up and went to help her. "Jeez." He said. As he turned the box around he saw the return address was his parents. "What the hell?" He said. Georgie stood up and smiled at him. "Well, you won't know until you open it. He pulled a pocket knife out and began to cut the packing tape. As he opened it white filler flew everywhere. He eventually pulled out a manger set. Once removing it from the packaging they both stood there in awe. It was a lovely set with a wooden manger and carefully wrapped individual pieces. Georgie looked at Elvis who was staring at it like a child on Christmas day. "Elvis," she said. "It's beautiful." Elvis glanced at her, "Yeah. They knew we didn't have one yet. It's from Italy, "he said. Georgie could see his eyes misting. This was something very special to him. She moved to embrace him. "You start to unwrap the pieces. I'll clean up the kitchen." With that she left him to the task as he smiled and sat down on the floor.